Bent corrugated web and method and means for making same



March 25,1947. AMHGHTMAN 2,417,960

BENT CORRUGATED WEB AND METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING SAME Original Filed March 31, 1939 2 sheets sheet I NVEN TOR mum A. uj hzm ATTORNEY w. A. WEIGHTMAN ,960

Original Filed March 51, less 2 sheets-sheet 2 March 25, 1947.

BENT CORRUGATED WEB AND METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING SAME qhtman.

INVENTOR:

WiUiamQM/em ATTORNEY III II II [I Patented Mar.25,1947 2,417,950

1 BEN T CORRUGATED WEB AND METHQD AND -MEANS FORMAKING SAME William Aiweightman, Philadelphia, Pa, assignor to The Budd Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application March .31, 1939, Serial No. 265,161, now Patent No. 2,350,379, dated June 6,

; 1944. Divided and this application August 13, v 1943 Serial No. 498,508 I 4 Claims. (01. 153-46) The present invention relates to a method and to equipment primarily intended for the purpose of bending metal or the like and to bent articles.

More specifically, itrelates to a method and 2,350,379, "Machine for Bending Metal," issued tools for bending metallic or other'proflles having June -6, 1944, on application Serial No. 265,161, grooves or channels into definite shapes which filed March 31, 1939, of which the present appliare. predetermined by the machine itself in cocation is a division. operation with the tools used therewith. 7 Referring first to Fi 3 a d t table Th new method and machine are designed for I is supported by means of the inclined struts or doing a great variety of bending work and are columns 2 and columns 2' secured to the base particularly-useful in bending corrugated metal plate 3. The table top carries the pivot pin 8. in a direction at an angle to' the general longi- An arcuate-annular member l0 may be supported .tudinal direction of the corrugations, specifically in a substantially horizontal plane upon a set of in producing an approximately cylindrical surflanges ll carried by the struts 2 and by a series face, whose elements are at right angles to the of vertical supports l2 so as to provide a firm direction of the corrugations. The word cylinfoundation for the said annular arcuate member. drical" is used here in its broad mathematical p n this member 10 may be mounted an arcuate sense-to mean' a curved surface generated by a rack member l3 havin Su t e te th A line constantly intersecting a given curve, not Pinion l5 cooperates with the rack A necessarily circular, said line or element remainstationary Shaft Supported in e e 3 at ing always parall'elto itself. It should, however, in any suitable manner and secured against shiftbe notedthat the 'rnachine'is not restricted to in by m n of a suitable fla s pp rt 8 cylindrical surfaces even of this verygeneral secured to the table I may serve as the pq type, but may produce conical surfaces and even for various elements which will now be described. warped surfaces; these surfaces being predeter A Worm Wheel ha i bevel p o 2 semined by the tools applied to the-machine. cured thereto or integral therewith is mounted The invention will'be understood clearly from for rotation about the shaft 16 and is held in the following specification descriptive of embodiproper vertical position between the collar 2| and ments thereof, particularly upon referring to the the arm 22 of a support so that the'bevel pinion accompanying drawings,wherein:- V 20 will mesh properly with the bevel gear 23 Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine; carried by the shaft 24 upon which the pinion 15 Fig. 2 is a section through the machine shown is secured. The shaft 24 isjournalled at one end in Fig. 1 on the plane indicated by the line 2-2, in the support 26 and at the other end a bearing looking in the direction of the arrows, the gear- 2'! carried by one end of an arm 28 which is piving being shown in elevation and the bending oted about the shaft I6. tools being omitted; A worm 29 secured to the gear 30, meshes with Fig. 3 1s a vertical section; partly broken away the worm wheel l9 and the gear 30 meshes with and partly in elevation of the upper part of the the cooperating gear 3|, the worm being mounted machine and of the bending tools on a larger upon the shaft 32 while the gear 3| is mounted Sc le th n u es 1 and 2,'the section being. upon the shaft 33. Both ends of the shaft 32 made on the planesindicatedby the broken line and one end of the shaft 33 are journallecl in suit- 3-3 of Fig. 1; I r able bearings in the bracket 34 which may be see- Fig. 4 is a partly sectional vertical elevation of cured to the base 3 many desired manner.

a means for clamping the workpiece; the section The shaft 33 has its remaining end journalled being made on the plane indicated by the line in a pedestal 36 and carries near this end a suit- 44 of F g. 1; able pulley 31 which is connected by means of the Fig. 5 1s a fragmentary sectional view showing belt 38 to the drive pulley 39 mounted on the shaft 2. portion of the die and of a cooperating bar- 40 of the motor. shaped tool with a workpiece being shaped be- The stud '01- pin 6 preferably has its lower end tween them, that is, a fragmentary section simi- 50 screwed into the flanged supporting member larto part of Figure 3 but on a still larger scale; I8. Referring now more particularly to Fig. 2, it

Fig. 6 is a perspective view'of the workpiece. will be seen that the arm 28 carries the support 26 already mentioned, which may be secured -While the drawings and the following specification disclose many details of a bending ma chine, it should be understood that the general aspects of the machine and of the method form the subject matter of applicants Patent No.

. thereto in any desired way,' i'or' example bymeans or the cap screws 84. The arm 22 ertendingirom the support 26 may have a. suitable bushing, serving as a bearing iorthe central shaft I6 and the other arm 58 may likewise have a bushing therein also cooperating withhthe shaft I6. It will be clear that the bracket 34 also aflords support to I the shaft Ii, which passes through bores formed in the lateral arms 80 and GI extending iromsaid provides a rigid brace between one end 01" the lever 28, and arm 56 of the bracket 20;

Thus when the bait 40 of the motor 4I turns, it will transmit ro tion through the belt 88 to the pulley 31, then through the shaft 33 tothe 'gea'rlil, then to the gear 30 andthe worm 28 which will cause the worm wheel J! to rotate about the shaft I8, thereby turning the bevel pinion 20 which in turn rotates the," bevel gear ll as-well as the pinion I5 secured to itsshaft 24. It is clear that when the pinion I! turnsit must move along the arcuate rack i3 because'thesaid rack is stationary and; therefore, the only motion ,possible is that of the bearing which supports -.the shaft 24. Since this is attached "to the lever 28 it is clear that operationof themotor 4I will cause the lever 28 to rotate about the axis of the shaft I6. Because of thetremendous speed reduction ratio produced by the gearing described; it will be clear that a very'great. turning moment will be exerted by the lever 28' in its'jrotation so. that it will have ample power to perform the bending operations dependent thereon.

A bifurcated bending yoke having the upper arm .81 and the lower arm 88 is pivotally held on the stub shaft or pin 6 which passes through holes. The yoke end 90 has a'suitable bore there in to receive an operating rod 92 which'preierably fits easily therein, said rod 82 alsopassing through ayoke 93 which is securable to the-movablearm 28 in any suitable way, for, exampleby means. of

the plate 94 and cap screws 85. 'I'he yoke end .80 carries, for a purpose to be described later on.

adjusting screws or set screws 96.. I

The drawings show the machine set up to make bends of relatively short radius in relatively wide material and is particularly useful for bending .fcorruga'ted metal as indicated at I02, although it may also be used for rods and tubes.

1 A clamping device indicated as a whole by reference character I03 is secured to the table I and this may be made as shown in Fig 4. A suitable bracket or yoke I04. having iormed therein. projections I05, corresponding to the corrugations of the workpiece, has a clamping member I 06 also having projections thereon spaced alternately with the projections I05 so that the workpiece I02 will fit between members I04 and I05. The opposite side of the yoke I0! is preferably ribbed, as shown, for stiffness and has screws I08 threaded through suitable bosses I08, so that.

.upon tightening the screws I08 the clamping member I06 will secure the workpiece I02 against the upright I04. The bracket I03 has a flange H0 at itslower end which may be suitably.

relatively small. radius, there is a surplus of material at the portions of smallest radius and this material must be disposed of in order to prevent lilizzixrpin-g, tearing, or incorrect shaping of the This function is accomplished in a, novel and extremely successful way by providing additional raised projections ii! at the centers of the grooves in theme :2 and, of course, corresponding grooves" inthe bending bar Ii 4 which rests against the outer side of the corrugated metal, so that additional small. corrugations are produced in the .corrugatedmetal throughout the extentoi the bend. The bar II4' is,.of course,

shaped properly to receive the corrugated metal workpiece between it and the die H2 and it will be. understood that the supplemental relatively narrow cbrrugationsproduced by the ribs II! serve to ta keup thesum'lus material at the innermost parisof the bend to prevent tea-rinmwarping, etc.v Aroll iiirotatabl'y held in. the Urshaped carriage member III by'means oi the shaft or pin I I I bears asainst-theoutside oi the bending bar H4. The bifnrcatedbending yoke consisting of the arms 81 and :88 pivoted about the pin or,

shaft i'is moved about said pivot by means of the operating: rod 92,. passing through the yoke 88 secured to the 28' and the said roller H5 is adjusted in iam'adistl direction by the screws 96 to conform. to the material being bent.

. Reference to Figures 5 and 6 will show more clearly the relative shapes of the bending die "2 and the bar II4 with the workpiece I02 between them and of the workpiece alone, respectively. The supplemental corrugating ribs are shown at I I3 and thecorresponding grooves in the. bar are indicated at II-8'. Itwill be clear that considerable strains must be supported. by the upper or remote end. of the pivot shaft E and in order to brace-the said upper end thereoi suitable angulariy arranged struts I=I8 may be provided. These in the one another and having a bore I20 at one end to receive the pin 8, while the lower end of each bar II! is secured to the table I by a screw or, bolt IZI. It will be noted that the arms 'II9 extend towardthe-iront' of the table "and thus are kept out of the way,'- of the workpiece and or the tool forbending. the some;v I

When .the workpiece-ls to 'be bent into a curve which'iis not a circleor a circular arc, that is, where the radius ofiiul'vature'varies, it is clear that. provisionmust' be made forrnoving the outer bending die or 'fdllower radiallyin or out in coniormity with the shape of the inner bending die.

While a specific iormJofthe invention is. disclosed, it will, of course, be understood that this 703' as follows:

is done purely byway of illustration and not in any limiting. sense. I

It is believed that. the operation of the device will be understood from. the description of the structure, however, it may be briefly summarized The corrugated metal workpiece I02is suitably 'clamped in the end. clamp or vise I03 so as to maintain its end portion rigidly held to the table and thereupon theyoke carrying the roller Ltd is adjusted to the proper position to force 'tlie bending bar H4 against the outer surface of the workpiece I02, the inner surface being engaged against the grooved inner bending die I [2. When the bending arm 28 is set into rotation by the motor 4| and intermediate mechanism, the roller H5 will maintain the bar I [4 in close contact with the outer surface of the workpiece while the lever 28 is turning, the result being that a bend of the desired extent and nature is imparted to the workpiece and, furthermore, additional small corrugations are formed at the location of the bend by means of the ridges H3 on the inner bending die H2 for the purpose of taking up the surplus metal as already mentioned. This, moreover, gives an ornamental andworkmanlike appearance to the bend and very satisfactorily solves the problem of accommodating the excess metal at the interior of the bend which would otherwise cause difficulty because of lack of accommodation for the same and might produce wrinkled, folded, or torn bends.

By securing the vise I03 at a new location on the table top it is, of course, possible to continue the bending beyond its original extent so that even hairpin bends may be made if desired, that is, the far end of the corrugated metal may be bent back substantially into parallelism with its initial portion.

It will be understood that the machine and the outlined method are capable of many modifications in order to accommodate the various types of workpieces and that workpieces which consist of corrugated metal and which are of varying heights and cross-sections, may be successfully bent into a large variety of shapes, since the machine provides ample capacity and power for the most varied range of bending work. It will be clear that all such forms may be bent with equal success by providing merely the proper shapes of inner bending dies and outer bending bars to cooperate therewith and that in every instance there is no sliding or rolling of the outer bending'member, that is of the roller against the material itself, so that no scratching or scoring of the workpiece will take place, since the roller does not come in contact with the workpiece during the bending operation.

The novel features of the invention are defined in the following.

What is claimed is:

1. The process of bending corrugated metal which consists in applying companion bending tools, substantially fitting the corrugations, on opposite sides of the corrugated metal, and proand the tools, while simultaneously forming additional corrugations of relatively small amplitude in the metal at the innermost parts on the insideof the bend, to accommodate the excess metal and thus prevent injury and warping.

2. Means for bending corrugated metal comprising an inner bending die having its working surface grooved circumferentially to fit the corrugations of the workpiece and a complemental outer bending die. s bstantially fitting thereagainst, one of the said bending dies having supplemental ridges formed on the portions of the working surface adapted for engagement with the bottoms of the grooves of a workpiece on the inner side of the bend, and the other die having corresponding supplemental grooves to receive said ridges, whereby additional corrugations will be formed in the bend of the workpiece and the surplus metal in the bottoms of the main corrugations taken up by said additional corrugations thereby avoiding formation of wrinkles in the walls of the main corrugations during the bending operation.

3. A corrugated web cold bent transversely to the direction of the main corrugations and having formed therein on the concave side of the curvature secondary corrugations of relatively small amplitude which extend in the same direction as the main corrugations, such secondary corrugations accommodating the excess material incident to the shortenin of the web on the concave side under the compression during the cold bending whereas the convex side of the web is free from corresponding secondary corrugations.

4. A cold bent corrugated web according to claim 3 having said secondary corrugations projecting radially outwardly away from the center of the curvature.

WILLIAM A. WEIGH'IMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,975,045 Kossowski Sept. 25, 1934 411,941 Taft Oct. 1, 1889 2,057,916 Quartz et al Oct. 20, 1936 1,244,598 Goldsmith Oct. 30, 1917 1,517,633 Junkers Dec. 2, 1924 414,767 Fox Nov. 12, 1889 

